About fifteen hundred years later,on the 13th of Nisan, the first month in the Hebrew year, the disciples of Jesus came and asked him, "Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover?"(Matt 26:17 ) It would soon be evening, the beginning of the 14th, the day that God commanded the passover lamb to be killed,"...and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening."(Exodus 12:16) "In the fourteenth day of the first month at even (evening) is the Lord`s passover."(Lev. 23:5) "...thou shalt sacrafice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun..."(Deut 16:6)

Jesus sent Peter and John to prepare the passover,( Luke 22.8) "And when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve (Apostles)." (Matt 26:20) It was now the 14th; the passover had been killed and prepared for the passover meal. "And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and with bitter herbs they shall eat it." (Exodus 12:8) After the meal, "....they had sung an hymn" and "went out into the mount of Olives" (mark 14:26) "And he was withdrawn from them about a stones cast, and kneeled down, and prayed". (Luke 22:41) After Jesus had prayed a little while, he came to his Disciples and found them asleep, and said to Peter,"What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matt 26:41) Then Jesus went away and prayed a second time, and returned and found them asleep again. "and he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time....Then cometh he to his Disciples, and saith unto them, sleep on now, an take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going: behold he is at hand that doth betray me." (Matt 26:44,45-46) As soon as Jesus had said this, Judas came with a great multitude of people with "swords and staves", the chief priest and elders. When they had layed hands on him they " led him away to Ca`-ia-phas the high priest...." ( Matt 26:57)

When morning had come; ( it is still the 14th), "the chief priest and elders of the people took counsil against Jesus to put him to death: and when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pon`tius Pilate the governor" (Matt 27:1-2)

The word of God say`s that they took him to a place called Golgatha, which is interpreted, The place of a skull, "And it was the third hour, (aprox. 9:00 a.m.) and they crucified him". (Mark 15:25) "and when the sixth hour (aprox. 12:00 a.m.) was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the
ninth hour (aprox. 3:00 p.m.)....And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice,....and gave up the ghost."(Mark 15:33,34,37) Remember, it is still the fourteenth, the Passover. Jesus, the lamb of God, was slain on the cross on the same day that God had commanded the Passover lamb to be slain fifteen hundred years earlier.

Up to this point we have reviewed the story of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ that most christians are familiar with; but now comes some very important points which must be made to secure the fact that the Lord was indeed in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.

In verse forty-two of the fifteenth chapter of Mark we read "And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, Joseph of Ar-i-ma-thae`a, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the Kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus". This is where so many make the mistake of assuming that Jesus was crucified on a Friday; because it say`s "....it was the preparation, that is the day before the sabbath." You may ask, but isn`t the sabbath on Saturday? Yes Saturday is the seventh day, the weekly Jewish Sabbath, but there are also other sabbaths.

In the book of Leviticus we read, "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, speak unto the chldren of Israel, and say unto them, concerning the feast of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feast."(Lev. 23:1-2) In verse three, the seventh day sabbath is described as being "....an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings." Then in verse five, "In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord`s passover" Remember the fourteenth is the day the Lord was crucified. "and on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the Lord: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. In the first day (the fifteenth) ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein."(Lev. 23:7,7) So we see that the day after the passover, is a sabbath day, but not the regular saturday sabbath. We can see this also in John 19:31, "The jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that day was an high sabbath,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away" "High sabbath indicating that it was not the regular sabbath. (note: The jews wanted the legs of those on the cross broken so that there deaths would come more quickly. The legs of the two thieves crucified along with Jesus were indeed broken, but the legs of the Lord were not broken,"For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A BONE OF HIM SHALL NOT BE BROKEN."(John 19:36) God commanded concerning the passover lamb,"In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof."Again in Numbers 9:12, "They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it; according to all the ordinances of the passover they shall keep it." (Exodus 12:46) And also Psalm 34:20<"He Keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken".) So we see again that the day after Jesus was crucified was a "High sabbath", but this in itself does not prove it could not have been a friday. Let`s continue with our story.

Joseph of Arimathaea had come to claim the body of Jesus, and the Bible say`s,"And there came also Nic-o-de`-mus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen cloths with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where he was cruciified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein never a man was yet laid. There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand."(John 19:39-42) Luke said "And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on"(Luke 23:54) Because when Joseph had come to claim the body, "even was come", the high sabbath had already began. Joseph and Nicodemus had to hurry to remove the body from the cross, carry it to the sepulchre and prepare it for burial. Because it was the high sabbath the burial customs were not completed. The burial would be completed after the sabbath.

Now comes some very important scripture that most people miss, or at least are confused by. In Mark 16:1 we read,"And when the sabbath was past, Mary Mag-da-le`ne, and Mary the mother of James, and Sa-lo`me, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him" In Luke 23: 55,56 it say`s "And the women also, which came with him, (Joseph) from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments: and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment." If Jesus was crucified on 'Good Friday", these two verses would be contradictory. How could the sabbath in these two verses be the same sabbath? How could the women return and prepare spices and ointments and rest on the sabbath,(Luke 23:55,56) when according to Mark 16:1 they had not bought the spices untill after the sabbath? There is only one answer, There were two sabbaths. The women had bought the spices after the "High sabbath", prepared them and rested on the regular sabbath. The "High sabbath" was on Thursday the fifteenth. They bought and prepared the spices on Friday the sixteenth, and rested Saturday the seventeenth, the regular sabbath.

"Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them."(Luke 24:1) Matthew 28:1 reads, "In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Mag-da-le`-ne and the other Mary to see the sepulchre". In this verse, the Greek text reads "Sabbaths", indicating again that there were two sabbaths.

By putting the scriptures together from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, we find that it was Mary Magdalene that came to the tomb first, "....early, when it was yet dark....and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre."John 20:1) "And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: and as they were afraid,and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, saying the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again".(Luke 24:2-7)

"....Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the Third day"(Luke 24:46)

Count the Days

---

Tuesday the 13th, was the day the Disciples asked Jesus where to prepare the passover meal.

Wednesday the 14th,Jesus and his Disciples ate the Passover meal in that night. Jesus was crucified in the morning at the third hour, and gave up the Ghost at the ninth hour.

Thursday the 15th, the first Day of Unleavened bread, was a "High Sabbath",no work was to be done.

Friday the 16th, the Women bought and prepared spices to anoint the Lords body.

Saturday the 17th, the regular seventh Day Sabbath, no work was to be done.

Sunday the 18th, the first Day of the week. The day the women came to anoint the body and found the tomb empty.

Jesus gave up the Ghost at the ninth hour on wednesday the 14th.

From the ninth hour the 14th to the ninth hour the 15th is one night and one day.

From the ninth hour the 15th to the ninth hour the 16th is the second night and day.

From the ninth hour the 16th to the ninth hour the 17th is the third day and night. Three days and three nights!

The Lord arose sometime between the ninth hour on the 17th and sunrise on the 18th,satisfying the three days and three nights.

---

After reading the "Three Days and Three Nights" study, a visitor to this website asked this question; How does the Sunday the 10th Triumphal entry into Jerusalem (known as Palm Sunday) by Christ line up with a Wednesday the 14th (Passover) crucifiction?
I welcome My visitors question.

To begin with, there is no biblical evidence that Jesus entered Jerusalem on a Sunday. This tradition no doubtedly began along with the "Good Friday" tradition that We have already discussed in the "Three Days and Three Nights" study above. The Holy Scriptures do however reveal that the Triumphant entry occured five days before the Passover.

"Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Beth`-a-ny, where Laz`-a-rus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Laz`-a-rus was one of them that sat at the table with him....On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the Name of the Lord."

"Six days before", would most probably place the supper late in the day or very near evening on Wednesday the 7th on the Jewish calendar. This would be exactly six days before the lamb was to be killed for the passover meal. Remember that the Jewish day began on the evening before. (aprox. sundown).So the "next day" would place the triumphant entry five days before Passover on Thursday the 8th.

It is also a tradition that The day Jesus entered Jerusalem was on Sunday the 10th. Many believe that the lamb that was slain on the first Passover, was a prophetic picture of Jesus, the Lamb of God, to which I agree. And as that lamb was to be examined to be without spot or blemish by the Priest, on the tenth day of the month, so also Jesus entered Jerusalem on the 10th, and was approved by the people. Almost everyone who supports this view uses Exodus 12:3,5 for their supporting text.

"Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this first month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house....Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats."

However this scripture does not say that the lamb had to be inspected by a priest. It was up to "every man" to see that his lamb was without spot. Also, there were no priest to examine the lamb. The priesthood was not instituted until God gave moses the command on Mount Si`-nai to appoint Aaron and his sons to be priest,

"And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest`s office...." (Exodus 28:1)

Although there does not seem to be scripture to directly support this view, I do believe that the old testament or old covenant, does contain many types and shadows of things to be revealed under the new covenant. There is a day during the week of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem and the Passover that one could apply the "inspection of the Lamb" view, but it is not on the day of the triumphal entry itself. It would be on the Sabbath, Saturday the 10th.

The Gospel of Mark gives us the most detailed day by day account.(read mark chapters 11-13) The day of the Triumphal entry (Thursday the 8th) Jesus and his Disciples went into the the temple and had a quick look around because evening was near. They went out of Jerusalem and spent the night in Bethany. In the morning (Friday the 9th) they returned to Jerusalem and entered the temple. This is when Jesus threw out the money changers and them that sold doves. He taught in the temple during the day. When evening approached they left the city and returned to Bethany to spend the night. The next morning (Saturday the 10th) they again returned to the temple in Jerusalem. This is the day that the chief priest and scribes questioned the authority of Jesus.

"And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priest, and the scribes, and the elders,And say unto him, By what authority doest thou thee these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things?(Mark 11:27,28)

After studying these scriptures We can safely that a Sunday the 10th "Triumphant Entry" is not supported by the Word of God.

---